1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an arthroscopic surgical instrument. More specifically, the present invention relates to a surgical instrument utilizing an electrical power source in a surgical procedure to cut tissue of a patient at an internally located surgical site, while selectively controlling bleeding of the patient at that surgical site.
2. Background Art
Arthroscopy is an increasingly commonplace surgical procedure. The inherent advantage to arthroscopy is that the procedure is associated with relatively short patient recovery periods and minimal scarring. What were historically considered to be fairly complex surgeries with lengthy recovery periods, have, through the use of arthroscopy, become outpatient procedures.
The ability to perform surgery on an outpatient basis greatly reduces the cost of surgery. An associated reduction in cost is the absence of the usually necessary pre-operative and post-operative hospital stay for the patient. For this reason, arthroscopy, which was previously limited to knee and shoulder surgery, is now spreading into other areas previously reserved for more traditional methods of surgery.